West End Calling
Report and Financial Statements Year ending 31 August 2024 Charity number 1204485
West End Calling
Report of the trustees for the year ending 31 August 2024
The trustees are pleased to present their annual report together with the consolidated financial statements of the charity for the year ending 31 August 2024 which are also prepared to meet the requirements for a directors’ report and accounts for Companies Act purposes.
The financial statements comply with the Charities Act 1993, the Companies Act 1985, the Memorandum and Articles of Association, and the Statement of Recommended Practice – Accounting and Reporting by Charities (SORP 2005).
Chair’s report
This was our first year as a registered charity and I am pleased with how everything progressed. This year was all about laying a foundation for the future so while there were some bigger set up costs which weren’t recouped, we’ve put ourselves in a strong position for next year which will see the charity grow and reach it’s potential.
We successfully held auditions and showcases in 9 cities across the UK with over 500 young people taking part in our competition. Of these 500, 10% were on bursaries giving them free access to all of our workshops and showcases as well as support for those who travelled for the semi-finals and grand finals. Our social media engagement has increased significantly, laying the groundwork for more interest in the future and we had very positive feedback from the parents and contestants.
Our aim was to produce a unique experience where young people would get a real insight into what the performing arts industry is like and I am delighted by what we achieved in our first year. We are continuing to teach and nurture young performers helping them to build essential skills in the performing arts as well as gain confidence, meet other young performers and create lasting memories.
Our purposes and activities
The purposes of the charity are:
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Advancing education through participation in the performing arts and in particular, by providing young people with the opportunity to participate in musical theatre.
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Developing their skills, capacities and capabilities to enable them to participate in society as independent, mature and responsible individuals;
Financial review and pricing policy
The majority of our income came directly from the participants with some set up costs loaned to us. In the future we hope to receive funding and support from government funds as well as private grants and other charities.
We are happy with the prices set out at the beginning of the year and customer feedback indicates that they are happy with the value for money. We will continue to monitor this going into the new year as we expand and add in additional workshops and opportunities for the young people.
The costs are as follows (bursary recipients receive everything for free):
Membership fee - £20
Headshots - £40
Workshops - £20
Tickets to showcases - £12
Tickets to the final - £22/25
We finish the year with a deficit of about £20,000 which was loaned as a set up cost by our CEO Alex James Ellison. This will be paid back over the next 4 years at £5k per year.
Plans for future
The plan is to focus more efforts on our social media campaigns to engage with more young people and to have upwards of 1000 young people enter. We will visit more cities and have additional workshops at each location to provide more opportunities for the young people. Will we introduce more video coverage of each show to help provide content and material for them to showcase their performances and will improve our voting app to withstand the demand needed. We’ll also aim to stream more shows so families can watch from afar.
Reference and administrative details
Charity number: 1204485
Principal Office: 77 Bonchurch Road, Brighton, BN2 3PJ
Directors and trustees
The directors of the charity are its trustees for the purpose of charity law. The trustees and officers serving during the year and since the year end were as follows:
Chair person - Mark Collier Trustees - Charlotte Levy Hollie Taylor
Chief Executive Officer - Alex James Ellison
Structure, Governance and Management
The day to day operations of West End Calling are run by the CEO who is in charge of booking the venues and staff, planning the event days, liaising with parents, marketing and overseeing all aspects of the competition.
They meet with the trustees throughout the year and are in constant communication with them, keeping them in the loop with any ongoing situations and monitoring overall feedback.
Appointment of trustees
As this is our first year as a Charity, all of the trustees have been on the board for the year and are happy to continue for another year. If they wanted to appoint a new trustee, this will be voted on during the AGM.
Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities
On the next page, you’ll see our lead sheet with this years expenditure and income alongside our predicted figures for next year (in blue). These figures are directly linked to a spreadsheet with all of our bank statements in and sorted into the categories which you can see giving a real time, accurate insight into where the money goes in the charity.
2024/2025 BUDGET
| EXPENSES | EXPENSES | EXPENSES | EXPENSES | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2025 | GENERAL | 2024 | 2025 | ||
| Venue | -12833.1 | -15000 | Travel | -2544.43 | -3000 | |
| Judges | -12413.41 | -15000 | Accomodation | -1793.75 | -1000 | |
| Staff Wages | -8676.4 | -9000 | Marketing | -775.88 | -1500 | |
| Photography | -4355.81 | -9000 | Insurance | -355 | -500 | |
| TOTAL | -38278.72 | -48000 | Prizes | -1222.17 | -1000 | |
| Software | -668.59 | -500 | ||||
| SET UP FEES | Tech Hire | -1556.4 | -2000 | |||
| App | -2189.63 | -1000 | Bursary | -250 | -10000 | |
| Legal Fees | -4923 | -500 | Miscellaneous | -560.99 | -800 | |
| One Off Materials | -1543.52 | 0 | Admin Wages | -10000 | ||
| TOTAL | -8656.15 | -1500 | ||||
| LOAN | TOTAL | -9727.21 | -30300 | |||
| Set Up Loan Repayment | -7700 | -5000 | ||||
| TOTAL EXPENSES | -64362.08 | -84800 | ||||
| -64362.08 | ||||||
| INCOME/REVENUE | ||||||
| 2024 | 2025 | |||||
| Audition Fee | 10399.83 | 15000 | ||||
| Headshots/Videos | 4329.36 | 26800 | ||||
| Ticket Sales | 23139.06 | 23000 | ||||
| TOTAL | 37868.25 | 64800 | ||||
| 2024 | 2025 | |||||
| Funding/Investment | 8700 | 20000 | TOTAL REVENUE 46568.25 |
84800 | ||
| 2024 2025 |
46568.25 | |||||
| NET INCOME -17793.83 |
0 | |||||